I have a few minutes to write before the babe comes back.

The other day I was thinking about how people might consider me a parent now. And how I'm supposed to be a mom. I am resisting putting those words in quotation marks, but that is how I feel. Like when I say the word parent in referring to myself I should have those irritating quote-y fingers waving in the air to emphasize the irony of it all. Same goes for that other word used to label the woman who raises the child. Mothers the child, so to speak. You get the picture here. I can't get used to the fact that I am one of those now.

Parents, to me, are older than me. They have kids. They know what is going on in the world and have some sort of control over their lives. They are part of the system and they know all sorts of useful stuff like where the best child care is and which doo-dad is better than the other doo-dad.

Parents have it under control. Parents will think about it. Parents have to come in late today because the babysitter got stuck in traffic. Parents were up all night with a sick kid. Parents don't stay at the party later than 8:00 because the baby has to get to bed. Parents know about naptimes and rice cereal and which vaccines are required for school enrollment. Parents automatically check a room for swallowable items. Parents only eat off plastic plates and drink from plastic cups.

Yeah, right. The other day I gave the boy a bottle of tylenol to use as a rattle so I could spend a few more minutes cruising the internet. Which explains why I wave my fingers in irritating quotes when I refer to myself or my husband as "parents."

(oh, and I started this entry at 1:16, but I'm finishing it at 5:26. that's another thing parents do, apparently.)